


Schrodinger's God

by Arcadias_Fire



Series: Seeking Mischief [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Cinematic Universe RPF, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Loki (Marvel) Gets a Hug, M/M, Multiverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-16 06:47:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18686281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arcadias_Fire/pseuds/Arcadias_Fire
Summary: “Loki? Love, I’m home.”There was no response. Tom glanced into the empty library, checked his office to be certain none of his wedding projects had been investigated by a nosy god, then turned off all the lights on the ground floor. Upstairs, the hall light was on, as was the light in their bedroom. Loki’s workroom was dark, the door ajar. Tom wondered if perhaps Loki had fallen asleep with the light on in their room, but when he went into the bedroom, it was empty too.Tom frowned. “Loki?”Again, no reply.“Love?” The silence lit Tom’s mind with panic.***The multiverse is a strange place. Dead in one reality, alive in another. Or maybe both.Endgamecould change everything, but did it?





	Schrodinger's God

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place during and immediately after "Bells for the Trickster" and assumes that you've read the _Seeking Mischief_ series.

Most of the time Tom was glad that the Loki preferred to stay at home for red carpet events, but occasionally he regretted it. The god didn’t like large crowds, since they made him feel even more alien than usual, and he’d flatly refused to see any of the Marvel movies, even the ones he didn’t appear in. So, having Loki attend the premier of _Endgame_ with him had always been off the table, but Tom honestly felt like he might have enjoyed it. However, it was a moot point since Loki was at home by himself rather than joking with Tom in the car on the way home from the afterparty.

 

The house was still brightly lit when Tom got home. The lights were on in sitting room and kitchen, but the space was empty. That was a bit unusual, given that Loki almost always turned off the lights when he went upstairs for the night. Likely he was working on something for their wedding in his workroom, since that took up most of his time, and planned on coming back down at some point.

 

“Loki? Love, I’m home.”

 

There was no response.

 

Tom glanced into the empty library, checked his office to be certain none of _his_ wedding projects had been investigated by a nosy god, then turned off all the lights on the ground floor. Upstairs, the hall light was on, as was the light in their bedroom. Loki’s workroom was dark, the door ajar. Tom wondered if perhaps Loki had fallen asleep with the light on in their room, but when he went into the bedroom, it was empty too.

 

Tom frowned. “Loki?”

 

Again, no reply.

 

“Love?”

 

The silence lit Tom’s mind with panic. He checked his mobile as he moved through the bedroom. No messages. If Loki had gone out, he would have at least texted Tom to let him know. Was something wrong? Ice filled Tom’s veins. He’d always been worried that Loki might vanish someday. He might get bored and move on. He might have gotten cold feet, with their wedding only a few weeks away, as unlikely as that seemed. But in all honesty, Tom thought that Loki - _his_ Loki - might just cease to exist some day.

 

Neither of them understood how their two universes interacted. As far as Tom and Loki were able to determine, everything that Loki had experienced matched Tom’s portrayal of him in the films up until right before Loki was killed in _Infinity War._ Loki had arrived in Tom’s universe for the second time about a week after _Infinity War’s_ release, with a comprehensive knowledge of those experiences, but nothing after - or before - what had been released up until then. Although Tom had only hinted at it in the past, there was a chance that this version of the god would vanish when Loki’s timeline was rewritten. He’d always been careful to keep Loki from learning anything about the films left to be completed, just because he was worried that talking about it might make it real in some tangible way. Now that it was “real” what would happen to this version of Loki? Would he be over-written, stay the same, or cease to exist altogether?

 

Tom made himself take a deep breath. There was no need to panic. Loki had vanished before. Almost a year ago. Loki had watched the first few minutes of _Thor_ , and had a severe panic attack. He fled their flat and Tom had found his then-boyfriend by following the connection in his head. So Tom tried the same thing and sent out a magical “ping”.

 

Loki was in the bath.

 

Tom shook his head at his own nerves. He tapped on the door into the en-suite. “Love?” When there was still no response, so Tom pushed the door open.

 

One of the things they'd loved most about this house was the master bath. There was plenty of space for both of them, a huge walk-in shower and a tub that was so large they could both fit in it at once. Loki was asleep in that tub, water up to the middle of his chest, head on a small bath pillow resting at the edge.

 

“Love?” Tom knelt at the edge of tub and brushed his fingers through the god's hair. “Loki, wake up.”

 

Loki shifted in the water, frowned, then opened his eyes. He blinked up at Tom. “Hello.”

 

“Hi.”

 

“When did you get home?”

 

“Just a few minutes ago.” He leaned down and kissed Loki's forehead. “How was your evening?”

 

“It went well. How was the film?”

 

“I think you would have enjoyed it.”

 

Loki's eyebrows went up. “Truly?”

 

Tom nodded. “You would be pleased with how things turned out.”

 

“Huh.” Loki sat up, then pulled himself out of the bath. A small flick of magic dried his skin and hair. “Am I not dead, then?”

 

“Well… yes and no. Possibly both at once.”   

 

Loki blinked in confusion. “Have I become some physics thought experiment?”

 

Tom laughed and walked back into their bedroom, shedding his suit as he went. “Schrodinger's god?”

 

“As you say.” Loki followed Tom and sat on the edge of the bed, watching him undress. “How am I both dead and alive?”

 

“What you remember happening between being caught at the invasion of New York, and going back to Asgard?”

 

“I…” Loki frowned. “I haven't thought about it in years. Not much happened, as I recall. I made a nuisance of myself until Thor gagged me, we took the Tesseract and left. I recall there being an argument as to if I should be required to pay for my crimes against Earth _on_ Earth, and who would have custody of the Tesseract, but Thor was highly… persuasive.”

 

“He threatened to smash things until he got his way.”

 

Loki grinned. “Yes.”

 

Tom laughed. “So you never stole the Tesseract back while you were on Earth?”

 

“When would I have had the opportunity?”

 

Tom shrugged and sat down beside Loki on the bed. “Between point A and point B.”

 

Loki frowned and shook his head. “If I had seen a window of opportunity, I would have taken it, certainly, but no.”

 

“Well, the opportunity presented itself, and you did.”

 

“Did I?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“I…” Loki frowned. “I have no memory of this.”

 

Tom grinned. “That’s actually the answer I was hoping for.”

 

“Beloved, you are being terribly confusing.”

 

“That’s absolutely fine. I’ll explain later, in the meantime, I’d like to celebrate you being you.” Tom leaned over and kissed a slightly startled god. Loki hesitated for a brief moment, then kiss him back. Tom tipped him back onto their bed and made it perfectly clear that he was happy to have Loki in his life exactly how he was.  

 

o0o

 

Tom had a bit of lie-in the next morning, and was treated to breakfast in bed when he finally did wake up.

 

“What’s all this for?”

 

Loki grinned and sat down on the edge of the bed, cup of tea cradled in his hands. “Can I not treat my fiance to breakfast in bed?”

 

“You can, but you generally don’t. Are you feeling guilty about something, or particularly celebratory?”

 

The god chuckled. “The latter. I did not go peeking into your office while you were away, beloved, nor have I done anything to cause your ire.”

 

“Good.”

 

“You did, however, promise you would explain things later…?”

 

“Ah. So you do want something.”

 

“I merely wish to alleviate any stress you may feel about discussing unpleasant topics by providing something for you to enjoy.”

 

“I think you did that fairly well last night.”

 

Loki grinned. “And I would be pleased to do so again in such a fashion. However, I’m terribly curious.”

 

Tom took another sip of perfectly-brewed tea and sat up a little more. “So, do remember when you watched the first few minutes of _Thor_ last year?”

 

“Of course. It was a memorable experience to witness my life in such an unusual manner.”

 

“Do you remember what I said afterwards?”

 

“You said a great many things, beloved. What are you referring to in particular?”

 

Tom sighed. “I said that you shouldn’t exist anymore.”

 

“Oh. Yes. You did say that.” Loki looked down at his hands. “I appear to still exist.”

 

“Yes. I was worried that if your timeline was rewritten in some way, that it would make this version of you vanish.”

 

Loki frowned. “Let me see if I understand this correctly. Something happened differently in my past, which - in theory - might make it so I was never in the situation that brought me to you in the first place? So therefore the version of me that you met would have never existed?”

 

“Pretty much, yes.”

 

“But… that’s not how time works.”

 

Tom rolled his eyes. “How am I supposed to know that? I’m just a lowly Midgardian. Besides, as far as I can tell, everything about our relationship is impossible.”

 

“Not impossible, just incredibly improbable.”

 

“Fair enough.” Tom took another sip of tea. “Do you want to go see the film?”

 

“I…” Loki frowned at his own tea. “I’m uncertain. It would be interesting to see how things diverged, but I’m not overly fond of that period of my life.”

 

“I know, love. I’m certainly not going to force you.”

 

“I believe I would prefer to avoid it for the moment.” Loki ran a finger around the rim of his tea cup, then looked up at Tom through his lashes. “How… how is Thor?”

 

“Heartbroken, but getting better.”

 

Loki straightened up. “Heartbroken?”

 

Tom nodded. “It isn’t spelled out, but he took your death rather hard.”

 

“Oh.” Loki sniffled and conjured a handkerchief out of nowhere. “I…”

 

Tom set aside the breakfast try and pulled Loki down so that the god’s head was cradled on his shoulder. “He does love you very much, you know.”

 

“I… I’ve never really been sure of that.”

 

“I know you haven’t, but it’s true.”

 

“I wish he could come to the wedding.”

 

Tom kissed the top of Loki’s head. “Me too.” Would it be odd to meet his fiance’s lover/brother? Yes. Would it be good for Loki? Almost certainly. Unfortunately it seemed incredibly unlikely that such a thing could happen. “I’m hoping that you’ll like Chris.”

 

Loki shrugged. “We shall see.”

 

o0o

 

Their wedding went off without a hitch, and the honeymoon in Paris was mostly spent in their hotel room, though they did visit the remains of Notre Dame.

 

“It’s a pity you never got to see it.”

 

“Very little compares with the Halls of Asgard, my love.”

 

“I wish I’d gotten to see Asgard in real life.”

 

Loki pressed a kiss to Tom’s temple. “All things end, eventually, even the Eternal Realm.”

 

They got home from Paris to rain pouring down on London. Loki eyed the sky with trepidation. There was an unnaturalness to the patterns in the skies that was oddly familiar. For a moment, Loki wondered if his weather adjustments over the past weeks had somehow gone awry. He was incredibly careful, and it had been worth it to have the perfect day for their outdoor wedding, but this storm had the feel of magic to it.

 

The car drew up in front of their house in the early afternoon. The pair of them retrieved their luggage from the boot, and raced through the rain to their front door. Tom unlocked the door and disabled the mundane security system while Loki checked his wards and dropped the illusion of “Lucas” that he wore in public. A scratch at the edge of his wards indicated that someone had tried to come into the house from the back garden, but hadn’t succeeded.

 

“Loki, you might want to come over here.”

 

Tom’s wavering voice came from kitchen. Loki came over to him to take a look out the back window. There was someone sitting on the bench in the garden, which was notably completely free of rain. The bag in Loki’s hand fell from numb fingers, and he raced for the french doors to the outside.

 

Loki stopped short as the large man on the bench looked up. “Thor?” He was certain that this was Thor, not Chris. Aside from the Australian actor being halfway across the world, he would never actually impersonate Loki’s brother in such a fashion. Thor wore black armor that Loki didn’t recognize, and his hair had grown back since the last time they’d seen one another. A huge axe leaned against the bench.  

 

“Loki.” Thor got to his feet. “Brother, you…”

 

Loki threw himself at his brother, arms wrapped around his huge frame. Thor tensed for a moment, then relaxed and returned the hug. For a long time, all Loki could do was hold on, reassure himself that this was indeed his brother. He looked different, older, sadder. But he still smelled like ozone and wind. After a moment, Loki pulled back and smacked Thor on the shoulder. “You’re late.”

 

“Am I?”

 

“Yes. You should have been here a week ago, you idiot.”

 

“And why is that?”

 

Loki looked into his brothers eyes. Eyes? One was brown now, and clearly artificial. “I got married last week. You missed it.”

 

Thor grinned. “Congratulations, Brother! I’m happy you were finally able to find someone who makes you happy.”

 

“I did.” Loki looked over his shoulder towards the house. “Beloved, come meet my brother.”

 

Tom stood just inside the french doors, hidden for the most part, but he stepped out of the house into the garden. Loki looked back at Thor, since he was certain his brother’s expressions would be highly entertaining. First, he saw Tom’s gender hit, a tilt of a surprised eyebrow. Loki had always been free with his favors without regard to gender, but the expectation was that if he ever settled down, it would be with a woman. Next, as Tom drew closer, Thor’s eyes went wide. Tom had allowed his beard to grow back over the last week, and wore spectacles, but their resemblance was undeniable despite that. Thor looked back and forth between Loki and Tom, clearly baffled.

 

Loki laughed. “This is Tom, my husband.”

 

“Hello Thor, I’ve heard a lot about you.” Tom held out his hand for Thor to shake. The bewildered thunder god took his hand and shook it in the Midgardian fashion.

 

“Have you now?” Thor looked at Loki.

 

“He knows everything. Perhaps even more than I do.”

 

Thor blinked a few times. “I’m afraid I’m rather confused.”

 

Tom and Loki both grinned. “It’s a long story, Brother. Come inside, will you?”

 

“I can’t stay, Loki, but I had to…” Thor looked down at his feet, then back up at Loki. “I had to see with my own eyes that you were alright. That _this_ version of you was well.”

 

“I am,” he replied. “Tom has…” He glanced at his amused looking husband. “He has helped me a great deal. This is a good world, Brother. I can be happy here in a way that I never could at home.”

 

“Good. I’m glad.” Thor cupped Loki’s neck, and he returned the gesture with no hesitation. “I… You do seem... happy. More at peace than I’ve seen since we were children.”

 

“I am, truly.”

 

“Good. As I said, I cannot stay, but I wanted to see that you were well, and…” Again, Thor looked at his feet. “And say that I’m sorry.”

 

Loki blinked. “You’re sorry?”

 

“For treating you so ill over the centuries. I’ve been made to understand what harm I did to you. All unknowing, but harm, nonetheless.”

 

Loki clapped his shoulder. “You’re forgiven, Thor. I forgave you a long time ago, even if it was only for my own peace of mind.”

 

“Good. I’m glad.” Thor shifted to pick up the axe which leaned against the bench. It was Dwarf-made, if Loki was any judge, and laced with seidr throughout. “Now, I must return. I’m sorry I can’t stay any longer.”

 

“Very well. It was good to see you again.”

 

“Likewise.” Thor drew him into another embrace. Loki kissed his cheek before he could move away again. “I’m so glad you’re alive and well, Loki.”

 

“And you.”

 

Thor held the axe above his head, the rainbow effect of the bifrost encompassed his form, and then he was gone.

 

Loki stared at the spot where Thor had stood for a long moment before turning to Tom. “That did just happen, did it not?”

 

“Yes. Or else we’ve both gone mad.” Tom gave him a crooked smile. “Given everything, I’m fairly certain that was Thor.”

 

“How was he able to conjure the bifrost?”

 

“That’s a long story, come on, let’s go inside.” Tom looped his arm around Loki’s waist and drew him inside their house. As the french doors closed behind them, a rainbow glimmered through London’s clearing skies, and Loki smiled.

 


End file.
